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THE NET SOUTH.! ? POET ROYAL, SAT., DEC. 27, 1862. ^I The Feeling at the North. The tone of the Northern Tress regarding the terrible slaughter of our brave soldiers which recently took place at Fredericksburg, in the despe rate, and we might almost say. foolhardy attempt a ilwlndw tlm rrthrtls frrmi thnir imnrrtcnalilrt strongholds, is bitter and severe upon the Administration at Washington, by whose blundering and interference it was brought about. That General Burnside was forced to cross the Rappahannock and make this hopeless attack against his own bet-' ter judgment is as much beyond a doubt, as is the fact that the delays to which he was subjected by the tardiness of incompetent officials at Washing, j ton in forwarding the Pontoon bridges, checked his progress, and by allowing the rebels abundance of time to concentrate their forces, and entrench themselves at Fre lerickshurg, entirely overthrew plans, which gave every promise of success While, however, the onus of this dreadful sacrifice of life is laid upon the Administration and the drivellinz officials who helD to manage the affairs. of our government, common consent appears not' only to hold General Burnside blameless of the results, but attaches a vast deal of credit to the con-! sumate generalship displayed in extricating himself ? without the loss of a single man or a gun,*' from 1 a most perilous position, and one into which he ' had been impelled by the imbecility of his superiors. In performing the difficult feat of recrossing ^ #? rivf .in the face of a victorious foe and evacuating a position, the occupation of whioh for twelve hours longer would undoubtedly have been attend*' ed with the most disastrous results to our cause ! T I General Burnside, we take it, hasexhibited military abilities fully equal, if not superior, to those of the ; roost successful general that opposes him. Ho has accomplished a military exploit excelling even the escap of the rebel army from Maryland after the bat, j tie of Autietaiu, which was so galling to us, and such 1 a boast to the rebels. That our troops showed the 1 most admirable bravery and determination is con- \, ceded by all, even the rebels themselves, and it i removes all sting of disgrace to know that ; * those noble men fell on the field bravely facing the ] enemy and were not slaughtered in an ignominious 1 retreat. While glorying in the heroism of our 1 troops, none can feel surprise at the torrent of, lamentations and reproaches which this useless ! sacrifice of them has wrung from the people ' oftbeNorth. Theyareno longersilent audpassive j under this last carnival of blood, but reproaches, loud and deep are thundering at the doors of the 1 Administration, threatening a whirlwiud of popular ' indignation. which thev dare no lonr?pr 1 ? ? I ( NEWS FROM THE NORTH. j1 The Str. Delaware, Capt. Cannon, from New '. York, arrivcil here on the 24th inst.; and on the | i 2-lth the Str. Sturof the South, Capt. IVoodhull, When off Beaufort, X. C'. on the 24th inst., the Star of the South transferred her mail and troops * Vvr Newborn t?? the steam tug Slag. The Stag is I bound from Xc * York to this port and put into ^ Ileaufort X. C. for coal. By the Star of the South ? wve have Xew Yoik dates to the 21st inst. The news r ?received is important, but what our previous dates bad led us to expect. A most desperate attack lias ~ been made upon the rebel intrenchmcnts at Fred-1 y -eih-ksburg which hasprovtd unsuccessful, and Gefi. \\ l'.urnsido has been obliged to witlidraw his forces ' across the Rappahannock. Followingwe give aj^ short account of the s I vi A EV\Cl'AT10B OF FREDKRICKSUIKG. After a most desperate attempt to dislodge the rebel., from their strong holds at Fredericksburg, in which we have suffered a loss of 10,000 men killed and wounded, the army of the Potomac, evacuated their potation and re-crossed the Rappahannock on Monday night the loth inst.,and the relative positions of the opposing forces are now the same as on Wednesdav of last week. 1 he movement was a perilous one, but it was conducted in safety and in the midst of a heavy wind and rain storui which served to screen it from the enemy?who never discovered the movement until it was too late to d* any harm. The artilhry w.,s the first to cross orer the river and the last of the infantry brought up the rear shortly after daylight. As >oon as the last man had got safely across the riser the p. ntoon bridges were removed and communication between the two shores thus cut off. Our wounded were'all safely brought over. The movement was welPexecuted and from beginning to end was a complete success. All three of the crossings wore usod. making six bridges. Gen. franklin s Grand Division occupying the extreme le t. began to move as soon as it was dark, and the right and Ventre of Gens. Sumner aud Hooker took up t^e line of march almost simultaneously, inovifl| in good order, but silently away from under tk*very guns of the enemy. A heavy gale ol wi%}, which blew all sound away from the rebel link*, greatly facilitated the movement, Bridges we<e covered with earth, to deaden the sound of thp moving artillery, and a dark night hid every i bjcct from view. Two brigados, belonging to Gen. fcutterficld s corps, occupy the town as advanced pickets. Our artillery, placed on the h.ther bank $1' the river, will cooperate in keeping possession ?f the town. On Tuesday niomfngsthe IGth inst, when day. light appeared the eric 111 y seemed to be, as they no doubt were, perfectly astonished that our army had succeeded iu recrosamg the Kappal\ann ,ck river, a movement accomplished without the less of a sin. gle man or a gun. The pickets on our outposts were unaware of thtf movement we were making until just before daylight, when an officer went to each individual man, and in a low tone of voice ordered him to fall tiack, After they got sufficiently far away to he out of danger, they were or. dered to quicken thtfir pace and reach the bridges as quickly as oossibk A, few skiers, who had, straggled 6117 made Weir appearance oVr^T-nver Kanb fjflnr thn K?i/lr?noKnrl i/wim, iuivi hiv ^viifuvu uiiugvomou uccii iciuuuv) but they were subsequently brought over safely in small boats About nine o'clock in the morning the enemy advanced their skirmishers along their entire lino, and by noon had established their pickets near the bank of the river. On Monday the pickets of the contending ar? mies fronting the left wing, mutually ag: oed upon an ? armistice " among themselves, and freely in* termingled with each other, exchanging their dead friends and cemradeswho lay on? neutml ground." About this time (Jen Franklin dispatched a flag of truce, which the enemy immediately recognized, iud the exchange of dead bodies was resumed and continued until completed. On Tuesday Gen, Lee sent a flag of truce to Gen, Bum side, asking him to detail men to bury his lead in front of Gen, Sumner's Grand Division This was done. Our entire army isjnow encamped on the same ground which they previously occupied, It has been considerably reinforced since the battle, and no danger whatever attaches to our present posi* tion. During the night the enemy increased their intrenchmcuts on the terraces in the rear of Freder, icsburgh, aud threw up rifle-pits uear the river, on Vit. l..f? ,.f !.*? ^5f.? A... 11 -a .MV iv|l Ul U1G GIIJ . V'lW IIUUJ/3 i*rv ;u C^CIICIU | mndition, and as enthusiastic as previous to the ate engagements. On Wednesday tho 17th inst., he rebels Sent under a flag of truce, a request hat we Would bury our dead, A burying party iccordinglv went over, and continued their labors nitil tho next day. During the truceCol. Walton, ,'hief of Longs tree t'a artillo.y, informal some of >ur officers that the rebel infantry force engaged i >n Sumner's front on Saturday, was only two I >rigades, but that they had a large reserve near by, ic said our men exhibited the greatest bravery, j mt he considered the rebel position impregnable,' ,nd that a force of 500,000 would Cud it impossi-1 tie to carry the heights in the face of their hatte,; ies. The rebel loss was small, compared with ; urs, from the fact that they were protected by i stonewall and rifle-pits, The enemy took nearly 00 prisoners frcm us?a considerable portion of rhora were absent from their camps when we evacated the south side of the river. The prisoners aken ou both sides have been paroled, h The reasons fur the withdrawal of the army are" lius cle.trlv si yen in a dispatch fro\n funeral Burnid.-. llEAlHiUARTKitS ARMY OF THF. POTOMAC, \ December 16th?6 P. M. > Maj. Gen. Ualleck, Commander-\%-Ch\eJ : The Army of the Potomac was witlulraun to this side ol the Rappahannock River, because I felt I fully con\ inced ttiat the position in front could not I be carried, and it u-?j a military neces*ty cither to attack thee emy or retire. A repulse would have been disastrous to us under exist.ngeircuinstanc. s. The arniy was withdrawn at night without the knowledge of the enemy, and without loss, either of prop-rty or men. AMBROSEE BURNSIUE, Major-General Comma, dingthe battle of Fredericksburg. I The following brief extract is made from tlieaccount of the liattle written by the correspondent J of the- N. Y. Times, under date of the 13th inst.: The battle of Fredericksburg, which has been ! raging since 10 o*ek>ck this morning without a ! moments pause, w as closed by darkrtess to-niglu. j In its duration, its intensity if not also, in the ! losses it has ikccasiouvd it cap# the climax of the w hole series of the battles ot the campaign. 'J he nation will stand aghast at the terr ble price whiek has been paid for its life when the realities of the ; battle-field of Fredericsfcurg are spread before it. Unhappily, like many oi our engagem- ntsr though serving to illustrate the splendid valor of : our troops it has failed to accomplish the object sought 'i he sequel alone ea? tell whether tl)6r j work of to-day is to be the prelude tt*;t glorious j victory or an ignominious defeat. But the result thus far leaves us with a loss of from teti to fifteen thousand men. and absolutely sothing gained. Along the whole line the rebels hold their own. j Again and again we have hurled feu ward our ; masses on their positi n. At each tiiue the Uamj mer was broken ou the anvil! NORTU CAROLINA. , ?The rebel General?Evans?who was in command at Kinston, on the 14th ins ., telegraphed to the rebel War Department that Gen. Kost rhad attacked the pi ce with 15,000 men and nine gunboat-, and that, after a ten hours fight,the National forceswere repulsod. lie took care to say, however, that Gen. Foster was still " in his front. We learn from Capt, Cannon, of the Str. De'a ware which left Beaufort N. C. on the 23d inst., that it is reported there that General ; o.-ter had diftwtfid rtin rifliula at KinjIqh and diium (U'lii ht 1 r m Gol Isboro, whore they received reinforc nients and General 1'oster was repulsed with a loss of four hundred men, Gon Foster's object was to gain possession of Goldsboro in order o command the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad a d cut off this communication between i.ichmond and he South. Gen'l. Foster reports that he has capture .500 prisoners aud 11 pieoes of Artille y at . .ingston. ?The destination and objects of th Bank ' Expedition have at last been ma .e pub ic, th . i Herald of the 21st inst. says; "Itsdestination is New Orleans, and one of its oljeots is to put General Banks in command of the department of which that city is the headquarters, ana 10 remove iTenerai miner, wno Dy various acts had rendered himself unpopular with many of the citizens, and had also created dirnculties with - the representatives and subjects of foreign governments. Having established himself at New Orleans as a centre, General Banks will proceed at his leisure to capture Mobile and establish communication between that point and the ( rescent City. He will command a force of seventy tkous ind men. and make attacks in various directions. A main oi ject of the expedition is to counteract the supposed projects of the Emporer of the French in Mexico and the Southern States." A Cabinet C'Risj9.-i-The JT. Y. Herald sayai Mr. Seward?acting under the pressure of tl*e leading radicals of the Senate in caucus assembled ?lias closed his portfolio as .secretary of State, and respectfully tendered, his resigna ion to the President, This step may be but the initiatory nr>A townrds ft tntnl ,,f tl>.? < ' ! ? V ?- ? UV v ?l .UWTa measure for which tlio jyuhlie miutl is not whulty unprepared. (.Jen. Hal lech will probably be removed,. Lt is rumorel in Washington that Genera] Burnside h#s tendered hi* resignation! as commander of, the Army of the Potomac, but the rumor doesjmJL. receive full credence. It is generally rumored; in the West Gen. Sherman, who has been- so long in command at Memphis, is to lc d the expedition do'vvaihe Misrissippi instead of Gen. MaClernand: Gen. jSher-. fcn took leave of his corps at1 Oxford;.Miss., on Pec. 9 and but one division of it returned witfc. him to Memphis, l